Ashish Mohan Khokar INDIAN DANCE TODAY. AN HISTORICAL OVER-VIEW [Ashish Mohan Khokar è probabilmente il più importante critico e studioso di danza in India. Ha studiato danza, ha lavorato in diverse accademie di danza, è critico del principale quotidiano indiano, «The Times of India», collabora con diversi altri quotidiani, è il direttore dell’unico Annale di danza in India, «Attendance». Ha scritto molti li- bri sulla danza. E` figlio di Mohan Khokar, senz’altro il più grande stu- dioso di danza indiano dell’ultima generazione. Sta creando il primo Archivio di Danza in India, partendo dall’immensa collezione del pa- dre. Per maggiori dettagli si possono vedere: www.attendance- india.com e www.dancearchivesofindia.com.] Indian classical dance traditions have been borne out of a sense of propitiation of the divinity. A certain spiritual content has always been its mainstay. It has also been essentially the art of a soloist, ex- cept in dance-theatre forms. Over two thousand unbroken years, it has grown to become the longest continuous dance culture, afford- ing an interesting insight into man and his relationship to stage in general and dance art, in particular. Its classical nature comes through by a set of code of grammar, content and concept. Thus, if in one form, the knees are to be bent while performing and a half-sitting position maintained all through, then it cannot be altered. The position of hands, the use of eyes, neck, torso and feet, all go towards making dance units, which be- come strings of movements, through which individual characteristics and a grammar is set which makes each form distinct and thus, with age and tradition, classical. The content is mostly mythological. These forms evolved over centuries, and it is believed, these were created to please gods and their representatives on earth. The myth goes that the gods were bored and asked the wisest amongst them – Brahma, the creator – to create some form of entertainment that «Teatro e Storia» nuova serie 1-2009 [a. XXIII n. 30] 248 ASHISH MOHAN KHOKAR would involve and engage all. Brahma enlisted the help of sages, of whom Bharata, was given the specific task of writing a new Veda, (the holy treatises of which four existed already – Rig, Saam, Yajur and Atharva) the fifth Veda called the Natyashastra, and through this work, the details of modern dramaturgy in India were born. When the gods saw their own stories enacted on the celestial stage, they were pleased and blessed the enterprise! They then re- quested Brahma that the same be taken to planet earth where, by lis- tening to such tales, human beings would benefit by what is moral and what is righteous. Earthlings would live pious lives and these stories enacted through dance, drama and music will help reinstate myths and traditions. Thus, the art of dance and drama were born to enlighten, entertain and educate human beings. Over centuries, these dance and drama traditions have crystal- lised to seven main classical dance forms of India – Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi from south on east coast in a state now called Tamil Nadu; Kathakali from Kerala on southern west coast; Mohiniyattam also from the same region; Kathak from north and central India and Orissi from east and Manipuri from extreme north-east. In last dec- ade, additions like Sattriya from Assam in north-east have been ad- ded out of bureaucratic and political considerations. That way, na- tional poet Rabindranath Tagore’s concoction of different forms too, now seeks recognition, as a form called Rabindranatyam. Regional aspirations, fuelled by ready-to-please bureaucrats, and politicians wanting to become popular, sometimes means some new forms will be added once in a while and boundaries between classical, folk, popular and ritual forms will get further blurred. Historians and dance buffs treat this as aberrations and accept it as anomalies of times we live in! Each of the principal seven styles (Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Ka- thakali, Mohiniyattam, Manipuri, Kuchipudi and Orissi) has set grammar and language and are practiced and taught traditionally from Master to disciple. A minimum of ten years of training is criti- cal to gaining some basic level of proficiency. While Kathakali and Manipuri were group art, all others were art of the soloist. Each form was taught in a personalised manner and the tradition of guru- shishya (master-to-disciple) was paramount. Gurus, as Master- teachers were called, were not found sitting in institutions waiting for students to come (and pay). They were mostly benevolent father- figures, who took a very few, truly talented wards under their wings, to groom and prepare. This process was not bound by time, money INDIAN DANCE TODAY 249 or years, but could take a lifetime. Until the guru gave permission, a student could not perform or take to stage. Both the guru and the student had time for and commitment to, art. Under a long colonial rule from 16th-20th century ADE, most of these forms suffered from lack of patronage under the colonial rule, especially of the Britishers, whose Victorians ways and prudish na- ture did not permit an open celebration of the body and spirit and who also looked down on traditional, local cultures and did all to discourage it. Lord Macaulay, a certain British Viceroy, further kil- led traditional arts by delinking culture from education in schools. Thus, traditional disciplines like yoga, reading of Sanskrit scriptures and classical music and dance were given a go by. Local patronage by Indian chieftains and royalty assured some survival and continui- ty, in certain pockets, else most of these traditions would have been lost. In that, the role of local temples as cradle of culture, cannot be under-estimated and local nobility supported these temples thus in- directly these dances got supported. The work of few pioneering gurus and visitors from abroad also helped these forms get established. The arrival of non-European ar- tistes to India, at the turn of the twentieth century also proved to be a catalyst. Among these, mention can be made of Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn, pioneering American dancer; Anna Pavlova and Victor Dandre, Russian star performers; La Meri and Ragini Devi, enterpris- ing American dancers; Louise Lightfoot, Australian talent and many others. They saw the dismal condition of Indian dances, submerged under a long alien rule of 400 years and felt sad for these century-old traditions. Dutch writers like Beryl de Zoete and French and Italian travellers like Alain Daniélou and Tavernier wrote their observations that helped too. The foreign dancers took samples of these forms, and helped create a flavour of these dances through their own interpreta- tions, thus giving Indian dances a world-wide audiences and assured survival. These were in form of short items or «Hindu dances» with popular imagery. They also «discovered» new partners and thus creat- ed stars of the form. Thus, Anna Pavlova «discovered» and partnered Uday Shankar, who was to become «father of modern Indian dance» later; La Meri «discovered and partnered» Ram Gopal, who was to become the king of classical forms; and Ragini Devi discovered and partnered Gopinath, who was to take Kathakali abroad. Ditto Louise Lightfoot and Ananda Shivaram. These foreigners helped reinstate Indian dance art and such activ- 250 ASHISH MOHAN KHOKAR ities got augmented by the slow and steady growth of a nationalist fer- vour in pre-Independence era, when Indians got inspired to fight for- eign rule under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi (later joined by Sardar Patel, Jawaharlal Nehru, Maulana Azad and many more). In that period several regional and new institutions were created for re- vival, teaching and promotion of our dance forms, chief being Kera- la Kalamandalam in 1930s in Kerala to teach Kerala arts of Kathakali and Mohiniyattam; Kalakshetra in Madras in 1940s to teach Bharata- natyam and Tagore’s own Santiniketan in 1930s to teach Manipuri, Kathakali and all available forms. Once India became independent in 1947, lots of forms got a shot in the arm, as it were, and overnight, under the overall nationalist fervour and spirit of revival, many insti- tutions were created that helped teach and train new adherents. In Delhi, an enlightened industrialist family created the Bharatiya Kala Kendra, which also housed the Kathak Kendra. Natya Ballet Centre, Delhi Ballet Centre and a host of institutions came up all over the country, too many to recount here. The first generation of star dancers India produced are Uday Shankar, whose discovery by Anna Pavlova, sparked a creative part- nership in London and Paris. Soon, Shankar returned to India to set up his own dance company and engage many, including musicians like Allaudin Khan Sahib, Timir Baran and Vishnudas Shirali to cre- ate everlasting works. His younger brother Ravi Shankar, distingui- shed himself later as a world-class sitarist. In classical dance, Ram Gopal of Bangalore, put three classical dance forms – Bharatana- tyam, Kathak and Kathakali – on world map. These two can be called pioneers, for they believed in India dance and helped reach out as early as in 1930s to 1940s. They went to gurus in their villages and sought to learn from them. Slowly traditional teachers called gurus left their villages and set- tled in big cities and started teaching traditional dances and thus many more aspirants started learning dance art properly. In Madras alone, in the 1940s, the fountainheads of Bharatanatyam dance could be found in the forties though the sixties. Guru Muthukumaran Pil- lai, Guru Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai, Chockalingam Pillai, Ellappa Pillai, Guru Gopinath, even Uday Shankar (making a full-length fea- ture film, Kalpana) all were in Madras in that period.